Greener Living- My Orla Kiely shopper tote bag from Tesco

Whilst doing some shopping in my local Tesco's this evening, on the way to the checkout I noticed this lovely exclusive range of reusable bags designed by Orla Kiely.

The first thing I noticed about them were the patterns-anyone who is aware of Orla Kiely knows these are so distinctive of her work.

The bags are 'juco', which is a material technology that combines the strength and natural properties of jute with the finishing and texture of cotton fabric-in other words a tough, hardwearing and stylish reusable bag, ideal for your weekly shop, or as a general tote bag for work or at the weekends.

I chose this design, the other two were in stock below too:

The other great thing about the bag was the price-only £4!! My bottle of rose wine cost more!

The limited edition bags were made to raise money for Tesco and Orla Kiely's chosen charities-CLIC Sargent and The Royal College of Art, with 50p from each bag sold going to the charities, the money divided equally to each charity.

I believe these bags have been in-store for a few months now, but may not be in each and every store, so if you do see them I would snap them up-certainly one of my favourite designer and high street collaberations of this year!!

Check out Greener Living from Tesco- you can pick up some great ideas and tips on being more greener and being aware of your environment.

Thrift Inspiration........TheLittleBlackJacket.chanel.com-plus MyStyle by the decade

Firstly, a big HIYA to all my readers and followers!! I have been very noticeably absent for a number of life consuming reasons, but I seem to be back on an even keel and I'd like to resume blogging life if possible!!

I was suitably inspired by Karl Lagerfeld's and Carine Roitfeld's exhibition which has taken place already in Tokyo and is due to open in New York on 8 June: The Little Black Jacket, with the book to follow later this year. There were109 fashion and famous personalities taking part by wearing the iconic Chanel little black jacket in their own way, with Karl and Carine taking the photos in his Paris photographic studio within six days with the results being shown in the forthcoming exhibitions and the lavish coffee table book:

The exhibition will be visiting London later this year with the book coming out on sale too-I will definitely make my way to see this, cannot wait!!

Anyhow, it inspired me to show off some of my collection of Little Black Jackets- I had a count up and have 10 in total!! Here are my favourites which span the decades, from the 1970s right upto the 2010s-you can never have too many, no??

This first one is my most recent and current in style purchase-by COS, I purchased it from the British Heart Foundation on Sunday for only £6.99 and I love the flared 3/4 sleeves and zipper detail-a very minimalist and deconstructed style:

2010s-COS jacket

This next jacket is a boot sale find from last year, bought for only £3 and it is one of my absolute favourites-none other than Valentino, with the trademark lace detail around the lapels and neckline in a classic tuxedo style:



00s Valentino

Next, another favourite is this Thierry Mugler sculptured little black jacket, so tailored and form fitted, bought from my local Sue Ryder charity shop a couple of years ago now for £12:

                                            

90s Mugler

This next jacket was a special find a few years ago now in my local Salvation Army for only £2.50, a gorgeously cut fluid wool jacket by Issey Miyake from his Plantation line-classic 80s styling with batwing sleeves:

                                                                

 80s Issey Miyake

Lastly another favourite find is this wonderful unlabelled Janice Wainwright 70s jacket, with her distinctive applique and art deco styling in black wool crepe:

70s Janice Wainwright

So you can see I have a weakness for Little Black Jackets (as well as denim, but thats another blog post story!!)

What is your fashion weakness, I'd love to know what your indulgences are!!!

PS-Although I have not been commenting I have still been enjoying reading your blogs and will hopefully be over to leave a comment or two! Wishing you all a great week ahead!!

Ernest Jones-jewellery for mystyle and all styles!!

When I received the Spring/Summer lookbook from Ernest Jones recently, I was smitten with their gorgeous selections which are not only inspired from decades gone but also destined to be future classics too.

Their key trends are suitably inspired from the twirling 20s, flirty 50s, mighty brights, molten metallics, soft sorbets and super prints-all so hot for this coming season and with such a fabulous array to choose from, not just in price but in style too, you will be spoilt for choice.

The jewellery  and watch range is so covetable and they feature pieces from high end designers such as Gucci, Michael Kors, Amanda Wakeley, Marc Jacobs, Burberry and Christian Dior. Also featured is a high street favourite of mine, Swarovski, whose designs are so affordable and chic and prove a really elegant choice of jewellery.

Here is my wishlist, which has picks from across their key trends and are certainly destined to be pieces that will see you through decades to come too!

Sworovski crystal solitare stud earrings, £40

Gucci U-Play medium mesh ladies watch, £435

Chamilia  'On The Fringe' Swarovski bead, £70

Cacharel sterling silver poppy earrings, £90

Michael Kors purple dial watch, £195

9ct white gold swirl earrings, £450

With a choice to suit all budgets and styles, you'll be creating your own wishlist from here before long- check for yourself what gorgeous creations Ernest Jones have to offer this summer season!!

Thrift Inspiration, Stella McCartney-paisley style

This week saw Stella McCartney launch the new Summer Olympics kits for Great Britain. There has been a mixed reaction to her designs of it, but I was inspired by her own label pyjama style blouse and trousers in paisley. I do really like paisley but can't see myself doing a top to toe look, although it does suit Stella:

For todays outfit, I decided to wear a vintage paisley midi skirt from the 80s, which is by St Michael (Marks and Spencer) and is in shades of taupe,green and pink.

Because it was chilly first thing I wore black boots and my black biker jacket, with a pale peach pashmina and my Topshop denim gilet underneath. The only item not thrifted was my long sleeved grey tee by TU from Sainsburys.

The skirt is quite a thin crepe style, ideal for summer with a cami and flip flops or for Spring or Autumn dressed with layers, like how I'm wearing here:

I also went to the boot sale today and was fortunate to pick up some items that I wanted- a couple of summer scarves by Topshop and Miss Selfridge for 50p each, a brand new French Breton tee in red and white for £3 and I found a cute vintage summer skirt by Versace for only £3 too!

I wish you all a great week ahead and I hope to visit you all with comments very soon!!

Chanel outfit post-pastels, then and now-1997 and 2012

Hi everyone!! Spring is in the air and now its getting milder, I have been suitably inspired by this season's trend of pastels to shop my wardrobe for the lovely weather we are having.

Sorbet pastels were featured in Chanels Resort 2012 and Spring/Summer 2012 collections as seen below- I'm really loving lemon, its a very fresh and stylish take on this trend:

Chanel Resort 2012

Chanel Summer RTW 2012

Some of you may remember my 'perfect day' back in 2008. when I not only met the gorgeous Wendy B, I also bagged some gorgeous designer goodies from Trudie Styler, do read my post of my most wonderful day here 

I have featured my statement Chanel boucle jacket a few times in my blog, but I have not done an outfit post until now. The jacket is from the 1997 collection and is a gorgeous mix of lemon and lime sorbet, so perfect for this coming season.

I am wearing with it a pale lemon pashmina, grey skinny jeans which are River Island and thrifted from the Sue Ryder charity shop last month for £6. My tan leather boots are by Faith and were a boot sale find a few years back for only 50p:

The cut and style of the lemon sorbet Chanel Resort 2012 is so very similar to my jacket of 1997, which just goes to show a classic Chanel never goes out of fashion or style. Take a tour of my Chanel jacket purchase here

Are you incorporating pastels into your Spring wardrobe yet?